Mark Twain's Boyhood Home, Hannibal, Missouri

A happy surprise today was going through Hannibal, Missouri because that meant we got to stop at Samuel Clemens' boyhood home. Clemens eventually became known as Mark Twain, an American writer, humorist, lecturer, and entrepreneur. Twain adopted his pen name after he became a river boat captain on the Mississippi. A mark twain is a measurement of two fathoms, which is 12 feet, or the depth of water that a riverboat needs so it does not run aground. Many of the characters in Twain's beloved novels Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are based on people Twain knew and grew up with in Hannibal. The town is right along the banks of the Mississippi River and the Main Street area is dedicated to his memory. Twain achieved great success in his lifetime and made a living off his writing and lecturing, but he also lost a great deal of money in failed business ventures, and he even had to declare bankruptcy at one time. Through all of his trials, Twain kept writing and success followed him. He was also a prolific traveler and lived all over the United States, including in Hawaii for a time. His travels also took him to Europe, the South Pacific Islands,  and India. As Twain said, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness." These travels also influenced his writings, including his travel books and his book A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Slavery was allowed in Hannibal when Twain grew up and he interacted with enslaved people in his everyday life. These interactions also influenced his writing. Twain was criticized in his life time for using dialect and introducing "low" characters. Today The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is often censored from high school reading lists because of its repeated use of the N word when Huck refers to Tom, a runaway slave on the river with him.  This book, as well as many others by Twain, is a scathing satire on entrenched attitudes of the time including rampant racism. As Huck Finn says in the story, "Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and a body ain't got no business doing wrong when he ain't ignorant and knows better." In addition to an amazing collection of  Twain artifacts, the museum held 14 original Norman Rockwell paintings relating to the novels. Rockwell is one of my favorites so I'm happy I got to see these.  Twain was born shortly after the appearance of Halley's Comet and he felt he would die with its return. He passed away the day after its return at the age of 74. I admire Twain's writing style, sense of adventure, and willingness to take on social issues through satire and humor. As Twain said, "Troubles are only mental; it is the mind that manufactures them, and the mind can gorge them, banish them, abolish them." So happy this unexpected stop took us to Twain's boyhood home!